Mobile telecoms equipment maker Ericsson will send a team of telecom experts to Haiti, which has been hit by an earthquake that the country’s Red Cross says may have killed 50,000 people, to set up a container-based mini GSM-system to enable mobile communication in the area.

Also the aid organisation Télécom Sans Frontières sends equipment and personnel to the country.

"We know from past experience how important it is for aid workers to coordinate the rescue operation using mobile communications. Aid workers can get their work done faster if we can provide them with the tools to get quickly in touch with the outside world, each other and those most affected by the emergency", Rima Qureshi, head of Ericsson Response, said in a statement.

The UN has requested that Ericsson deploy its Ericsson Response organization to aid relief work in disaster-stricken Haiti.

Ericsson Response was formed in 2000 and is the result of a conviction in Ericsson that telecommunication expertise is needed during times of disaster and has formed partnerships with international organizations such as the UN, the company said in its statement.